


Between Seoul and Yangpyung

by byunyeol



Category: 1The9 (Band)
Genre: 1The9, Childhood Friends AU, M/M, Under Nineteen, jinsung/doyum, jinyeom, kpop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2019-06-26
Packaged: 2020-05-20 09:49:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19374244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/byunyeol/pseuds/byunyeol
Summary: Jinsung still remembered the pale, skinny kid in the cartoon robot shirt, with the toothy grin and small eyes.Doyum still remembered the tan, nerdy looking kid with the crooked glasses and the awkward smile.But that was seven years ago, when they had first met at the age of ten, in the small town of Yangpyung. When they reunite in Seoul, will things be the same?





	Between Seoul and Yangpyung

**Author's Note:**

> little kid doyum face claim: https://i.ibb.co/T884DkD/56666-A91-AF90-4435-BFF3-F0-EF1-F475623.jpg
> 
> little kid jinsung face claim: https://i.ibb.co/hLzdvBF/AB6-B318-C-ECDF-46-BF-B2-BB-11-AD7280-A4-D9.jpg
> 
> current dy: https://i.ibb.co/fNN7Vkm/8-AD3-D4-D0-0-DB5-4714-93-A3-9-BA9-A87062-AB.jpg
> 
> current js: https://i.ibb.co/zSY0Zrk/36-E6-FD71-3402-47-A0-A639-CCC361-FE9-FD5.jpg

Chapter One

♪♪♪

 

“Jinsung-ah, come here!” 

Ten year old Jinsung groaned, smothering his face into his pillow. He did not feel like watching another cheesy historical drama with his grandma. He missed his mom. He missed his friends. Both of those things were in Seoul. Unfortunately, he was stuck at his grandma’s house in Yangpyung. 

He had so many plans with his friends for summer break. His buddy Minsoo had just gotten a new Wii for his birthday, and his other friend Jungmin had just gotten his bike fixed.

So naturally, Jinsung was not happy at all when his mother had broken the news that she had to go abroad for a business trip and he had to stay with his grandma in her small country town. 

To Jinsung, Yangpyung meant reading his comics on his grandma’s tiny front porch while she made him kimchi stew and dumplings. Yangpyung meant spending the summer without his mom, friends, or (acoording to him) happiness. 

“Jinsung!”

Jinsung sighed deeply, then cringing as his face was still shoved into his pillow, he could smell his morning breath. Finally he peeled his blanket off and jammed his glasses onto his face then wandered out of his room.

At once, three pairs of eyes were laid on him. Jinsung froze, expecting only his grandma to be on the couch, catching up on the latest episode of “Arang and the Magistrate” or whatever, but instead there were two more people than usual on his grandma’s couch.

There was another old woman, looking very similar to Jinsung’s grandma, except she had different colored tacky floral pants and her hair was completely gray (Jinsung’s grandma’s was too, but she usually dyed her hair black). She had a warm smile and had her arm around a little boy.

The boy sat primly on the couch, one hand on his lap and the other resting on the couch. This kid was really skinny and pale. Jinsung was rather tan, having spent a lot of time outside playing soccer at school with his buddies, but this boy looked like he hadn’t been ever been outside. His expression was rather blank, with a neat little nose that was slightly pointed on the end, and small eyes that weren’t very expressive. 

His straight black hair covered his eyebrows and forehead (just like Jinsung’s) and he was wearing a thin, long sleeved shirt with a cartoon robot on it. The boy looked him up and down, and said nothing, but Jinsung could swear he saw a glimmer of amusement in his eyes.

And rightfully so. Jinsung was still wearing his pajamas, which were a thin white tank top (Korean summers were hot and unforgiving, even at night) and his light blue boxers. Suddenly, he felt quite self consious. He hadn’t brushed his hair yet, and he knew his hair was probably sticking up all over the place. He had a bunch of mosquitos bites on his legs and neck, and he had tendency to scratch them in his sleep, so they were probably realy swollen right now.

“Jinsung, this is my friend,” Jinsung’s grandma began. Jinsung bowed respectfully to the old woman. “And this is her grandson, Jeon Doyum.” 

The boy waved at him. Jinsung waved back.

 

 

After Jinsung had ducked back into his room to put on a pair of pants, for god’s sake, Doyum’s grandma gave each of the boys a Yakult yogurt drink and shooed them into Jinsung’s room, where they stood awkwardly now. 

Jinsung watched Doyum explore his room from the doorframe while Jinsung tried to straighten up his bed. He flipped his pillow to the other side after noticing a huge, embarassing drool stain on the front. 

While Doyum sat on Jinsung’s bed, Jinsung plopped on a stool next to his window. 

“Do you live here?” Jinsung asked tentatively. He really wasn’t good with talking to new, unfamiliar people. He and Minsoo had know each other since they were babies, since their mothers had been best friends, and Jungmin had approached him and befriended him in first grade. 

Jinsung guessed Doyum didn’t usually get deeply affected by most things, judging from he didn’t blink an eye by Jinsung’s sudden question. Jinsung would have probably reeled if Doyum had talked to him first, but Doyum just answered calmly.

“Yeah. I used to live in Incheon, but I moved here a few years ago. Where do you live?”

“I live in Seoul, but my mom needed to work so she sent me here.” 

 

 

Soon enough, their grandmothers called them to eat watermelon outside. The two boys sat on the wooden porch, watching the fluffy clouds travel across the sky. 

Jinsung’s grandma had cut his watermelon into cubes and placed them into a big bowl, just the way he liked them.

Doyum ate them from the rind, in the traditional triangle slices. Unlike Jinsung though, he spit out the black seeds.

They sat under the sky silently, watermelon juice dribbling down their chins, swatting away hungry mosquitos and flies, sighing in short relief whenever a breeze decided to grace them with its presence. 

As lunch approached, their grandmothers made them fried eggs and kimbap, and they ate together, their metal chopsticks clinking as they ate. They talked about Pokemon, video games, soccer balls. 

And this was how Jinsung spent his summer. Spending time with his new friend Doyum, trading Pokemon cards, watching Tobot and Cars together while eating Choco Pies and Banana Milk. They would play with their Transformers action figures together; Jinsung with Optimus Prime and Doyum with Megatron.

Jinsung really liked hanging out with Doyum. Despite his first impression of him, Doyum wasn’t all that judgemental. He never commented on all of the Crayon Shin Chan and Pororo merch Jinsung’s mom had bought him over the years because it was cheaper than regular items. He didn’t make fun of him when Jinsung tripped over things or snicker when Jinsung would get allergies and snot would be dripping down his face. 

Instead, Doyum helped him up when he fell, and found tissues for when he sneezed, and was just really nice. 

Unfortunately, their friendship had to end as summer came to a close. His grandmother had recieved a call from his mother that she was on her way back, and she would be driving to Yangpyung the following day to pick Jinsung up. 

Jinsung was eating lunch with Doyum when his grandma told him, and he burst into tears, not wanting to leave his friend behind. Doyum had comforted him, but when the day came, they were both in tears. After Jinsung hugged both his and Doyum’s grandma goodbye, he turned to Doyum, who shoved something into his hand. 

Jinsung glanced up at Doyum to see eyes equally sad and watery as his own, and realized what Doyum had just given him. Doyum’s Megatron action figure. Jinsung tried to give it back, but Doyum insisted he have it. Jinsung kneeled in his seat and rolled down the window, sticking his arm out and waving until both Doyum’s waving hand and Jinsung’s grandmother’s house disappeared from view. 

 

♪♪♪

 

That was seven years ago. Jinsung was seventeen, and if Doyum hadn’t died from a fiery car accident yet, so was he. 

Aside from that summer, Jinsung hadn’t seen Doyum since. A year after that said summer, Jinsung had been looking forward to Yangpyung. When he scampered to his grandmother’s house when summer began, his grandma had informed him that after Jinsung left, Doyum’s father had found work in Incheon, and his family had moved back. 

 

Jinsung left the apartment, bidding farewell to his mother, then setting out for the first day of this school year. 

This summer, he hadn’t gone to his grandma’s house, instead, his mother sent him to double hagwon to study for the summer. 

He was rather unhappy. His navy blue school uniform was rather stiff and itchy, and a new school year meant more work, on top of hagwon. Thankfully, his friends were waiting for him at next to the GS25 near their apartments. Kim Minsoo, who had been his friend since they were born, lived in the apartment building next to his, and a friend he had made last year, Jung Taekhyun who lived in the same apartment building as him. 

Jung Taekhyun was very friendly, and a year younger than Minsoo and Jinsung, having skipped a grade. Luckily for Taekhyun however, he was quite tall for being a year younger than all of his classmates so he never got picked on. (Although Jinsung and Minsoo didn’t like to admit it, Taekhyun was taller than both of them). 

Minsoo and Taekhyun waved at Jinsung from the front of the convenience store. 

“Hey, Jinsung hyung.” Taekhyun greeted him.  
“Hey Jinsung.” Minsoo nodded at him. 

They exchanged bro-hugs when Jinsung noticed Taekhyun starting to walk off.

“Where are you going?” Jinsung called out, confused. Taekhyun turned around, but before he could answer, Minsoo elbowed him, snickering.

“Remember? He has to go walk Siyeon to school.” 

“Ah, right.” Jinsung remembered, nodding, and waved for Taekhyun to keep going. Siyeon was Taekhyun’s girlfriend since last year. Jinsung had forgotten about that. 

Minsoo sighed, shifting his backpack from his right shoulder to his left. “When am I gonna get a girlfriend?”

 

♪♪♪

 

Jinsung only got more unenthusiastic as he and Minsoo got closer to the school. Eventually, they had to depart, as Minsoo got placed into a different classroom.

The same classroom as Taekhyun.. Jinsung thought grumpily, annoyed that two of his friends got to be in the same class without him. 

He had also exchanged talk between all of his other friends, yet no especially close friends were in his room, only a few mutuals.

As he entered Classroom 4, he went straight for the small individual cabinets in the back of the classrooms. There he found one with his name neatly taped onto it, and he crouched onto the floor and opened his bag. Inside he had his lunch money, a few new notebooks and his workbooks. He knew that the chemistry teacher would come into their classroom first so he set the chemistry workbook aside, and shoved everything else into his cubby. He then stood, holding only a brand new notebook, tje chemistry workbook, and a pencil case when his jaw dropped.

Walking towards him was Doyum. Well, at least, he was sure it was Doyum. This guy had the same face, same porcelain-white skin, except his hair was bleached white-blond. Jinsung was completely sure it was him.

But.. what was he doing in Seoul? 

“Excuse me, could you move over a little?” 

Jinsung was thrown out of his whirlwind of thoughts and shock, and he scuttled over to the side, and he watched Doyum scan the row of cabinets until he found the one with his name on it, and began unpacking.

Then something occurred to Jinsung.

Why didn’t he recognize me?

He thought, very confused, when he realized what it was. 

As soon as Jinsung had entered high school, he started wearing contacts, not mention he had gotten much paler from the only phase of his life Doyum had known him. He’d lost weight too. 

“..Doyum?” Jinsung called out to him warily.

His palms were getting sweaty. Suddenly the tie on his uniform felt too tight. What if this wasn’t Doyum after all? Even if it was, what if he didn’t remember him? 

All his fear melted away when Doyum turned to head towards him, and his jaw also dropped, eyes widening. Jinsung smiled at him. Doyum’s expression was probably very similar to what Jinsung’s had been a few minutes ago.

**Author's Note:**

> hey, first fic :)
> 
> i’m currently working on a chanbaek fic too, so look out for that!
> 
> i really appreaciate comments and kudos, so thank you!


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